For both the families, It was just a business deal. A partnership, that would ensure their 'Billionaire' titles. And to top it all off, they even agreed to lump their children's life, by marrying them.
The future couple had a plan of their own. A co...
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Two days later, I received a brief call from mom to invite us for dinner. She was not her usual cheery self. I wonder if she thinks Axel really did it. I didn't tell him about the gnawing feeling I had. First, his father's cold behavior and now this. If I tell him that his mother is also behaving distant, he will lose it.
He looks genuinely happy when he works with me, but I have also seen him read the business magazines during his breaks. He grounds his morsels when he sees a red mark going down on the news and takes a breath of relief watching the numbers change in the shares market. The longing in his claws at my heart. He misses that life. He had wanted to become a businessman. I can't even imagine what I would do if the cafe was taken from me.
I push aside the website development I have been reviewing on my laptop for the cafe and watch him button up his shirt to get ready to go to his parent's house. He looks like a giant in my tiny place. Every time his toes collide with the boxes and he hisses in pain, my heart aches for him. He is not used to this life. He is a tough guy, but he had lived in luxury for so long, even overcoming the tiniest inconvenience is an enormous achievement for him. He had studied at an elite boarding school. He hasn't lived in a cardboard box of a room in the hostel like me.
When he bent down in front of the mirror to do his hair, I approach him and take the brush from his hand, "I made some low-fat cookies, I am bringing them too." I tell him, making him sit on the couch to style his hair the way I like.
"I am sorry, Arianna. But I don't think they would take anything from us. I am sorry your relationship with my mother got strained because of me." He sighed in defeat, burying his head in my torso.
"What are talking about. How could..." I begin to say, raking my hand in his hair. I tried to hide my croaking voice, but couldn't.
He wrapped his hand around me and tugged me to sit on his lap. I had no other option but to look at him. He watched my watery eyes and smiled. "I saw that look on your face, sweetheart. You practically jump up and down like a 3-year-old every time you talk to her." I remain quiet.
"You did nothing wrong. Let's hope for the best." I whisper and kiss him.
*****
There was no warm welcome for us at their mansion. The place didn't give me the homely vibes. And dinner was the worst. It felt like we were having an official meeting, giving precise answers to their irrelevant question. What made me hurt the most was they were not even meeting our eyes. I want to cry and shout that we have done nothing wrong and they should stop treating us like criminals. All the while, my hand remained in Axel's lap, to calm him or myself. I don't know.
